Wardrobe trunk



June 26, 1934. H. N. WILLIAMS 1,964,706

WARDROBE TRUNK Filed July 6, 1933 T'az 'zlsA TTORNE Y Patented June 26,1934 UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE WARDROBE TRUNK Herbert N. Williams,Fitchburg, Mass.

Application July 6, 1933, Serial No. 619,193 3 Claims. (c1. 19o-13.)

l'This invention relat'es lto a 'trunk of the type commonly known as awardrobe trunk and has for 4its main object the provision of a generallyinfr-V ,q proved and more satisfactory trunk of this char- Anotherobject of the invention is the provision of such a trunk so designed andco-nstructed that no parts of the trunk slide over the floor u duringthe opening "and closing movements of the 10 trunk, so that the floorwill not be marred or scratched during such movements.

Still another object is the provision of such va trunk having means forsupporting a Closure section of the trunk in substantially horizontalposition at an elevation materially above the iloor level, andparticularly of such supporting means so designed and constructed as tobe simple and inexpensive.

To these and other ends the invention resides '2U in certainimprovements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter morefully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims atthe end of the specification.

A In the drawing:

425 Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken substantially centrally through atrunk constructed in accord\ ance with a preferred embodiment of theinvention, showing the trunk in closed position;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section substantially on "T the line 2--2 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through a fragment of the trunk showing itin open position, and

Fig. 4 is an end view of the trunk in the position shown in Fig. 3.

The same reference numerals throughout the several views indicate thesame parts.

The trunk of the present invention comprises a main body section 10, andwhat may be described as a first closure section 11 pivotally connectedto the main section 10 by hinges 12 having their axes substantiallyhorizontal at a point materially above the iioor level or bottom of thebody 10. The trunk also has a second closure section 14 pivotallyconnected to the body 10 by hinges 15 with horizontal axes substantiallyat the top of the body section 10. When the trunk is closed, the partsare in the position shown in Fig. 1, with the second closure section'14overlying and covering the upper end of the main body section 10 and ofthe rst closure section 11.

When the trunk is opened, the section 14 is swung upwardly andbackwardly about its hinges 15, and the rst closure section 11 is swungoutwardly and downwardly about its hinges 12,`to a position such asshown in Fig. 3. The hinges 12 will -then hold one end of the section 11 at an veleva-tion materially above the floor level.

Means is vprovided for holding the other end -of t-hesection 11 up atsubstantially the same elevation above the floor level, so that thissection will be arranged substantially horizontally when the trunk isopen, as shown in Fig. 3. This supplementary supporting means ispreferably in the Yform 0f a member 29 hinged at 21 to the end 22 v ofthe ,closure section 11 remote from the hinges y,12, and of the properlength so that when it is swung down to the position shown in Figs. 3and 4, it will Contact `with and rest upon the floor and hold thesection 11 in substantially horizontal the floor as here disclosed, aperson packing or A unpacking articles from the compartments in theclosure section does not have to stoop over as far as would be necessaryif the closure section rested directly upon the floor, and furthermore,

the hinging of the closure section to the main body at a point above thefloor level has the advantage that when the trunk is opened, there areno parts which slide over the surface of the floor or which would be aptto mar or injure the iioor in any way.

When the trunk is closed, the member 20 is swung over to the oppositeside of its hinge 21 so that it occupies substantially the positionshown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is placed in this position before the secondclosure member 14 is closed, and when this member 14 is closed, it thenoverlies the member 20 so that the latter is wholly within the trunk.

It is to be noted that the member 20 is relatively broad, as shownespecially in Figs. 2 and 4,

so that it provides a broad base resting upon the i'loor to furnish anadequate and rm support for the outer end of the section 11.

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to beunderstood that the inventive idea may be carried out in a number ofways. This application is therefore not to be limited to the precisedetails described but is intended to cover all variations andmodifications thereof falling within the spirit of the invention or thescope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A wardrobe trunk comprising a main section, a closure sectionpivotally connected to said main section at a point materially above thebottom of the main section and extending upwardly from its pivotalconnection when in closed position and laterally outwardly7 from saidpivotal connection when in open position, and a supporting member hingedto the end of said closure section remote from said pivotal connection,for movement to an effective position extending downwardly from andacting as a support for said closure section when said closure sectionis in open position, said supporting member being manually shiftable toanother position when said closure section is to be closed.

2. A wardrobe trunk comprising a main section, a closure sectionpivo-tally connected to Vsaid main section at a point materially abovethe bottom of the main section and extending V11p-- wardly from itspivotal connection when in closed position and laterally outwardly fromsaid pivotal connection when in open position, and a supporting memberhinged to the end of said closure section remote from said pivotalconnection, for

movement to an eiective position extending downwardly from and acting asa support for said closure section when said closure section is in openposition, said supporting member being shiftable to an ineiectiveposition wholly within said trunk when said closure member is in closedposition.

3. A wardrobe trunk comprising a main section, a iirst closure sectionpivotally connected to said main section at a point materially above thebottom of the main section and extending upwardly from its pivotalconnection when in closed position and laterally outwardly from saidpivotal connection when in open position, a second closure sectionhinged to said main section adjacent the top thereof and adapted tocover the upper end of said main section and of said first closuresection when the trunk is closed, and a member hinged to said firstclosure section and capable of being shifted from an eiective positionextending downwardly from and acting as a support for said rst closuresection when said trunk is open, to an ineiTective position beneath saidsecond closure section when said trunk is closed.

HERBERT N. WILLIAMS.

